April 2017 Journal. Pete

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Doris Mason
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April 2017 Journal Dear Friends, We are fast approaching the 1 st April, and I hope you will be able to join us at the cemetery on our first recording of the year.

Whatever clothes you re comfortable with; we will supply you with a badge, which you must wear when on duty, and as you ll be working in pairs, one of the pair will need to wear a hi-viz jacket,

Instructions will be given on site, but one of the pair will be at the front end, uncovering, then reading aloud, the inscription; the other of the pair filling in the record sheet. Where do we meet?

1 April 2017 Journal Dear Friends, We are fast approaching the 1 st April, and I hope you will be able to join us at the cemetery on our first recording of the year. If not, that s fine you can catch up with us at any time (we will mostly meet at midday on Wednesdays and Sundays). What to bring with you? Whatever clothes you re comfortable with; we will supply you with a badge, which you must wear when on duty, and as you ll be working in pairs, one of the pair will need to wear a hi-viz jacket, which we also supply. However, it would be beneficial to bring some cheap washing up sponges, a spray water-bottle, and a hand fork; also pencils and a sharpener. Instructions will be given on site, but one of the pair will be at the front end, uncovering, then reading aloud, the inscription; the other of the pair filling in the record sheet. Where do we meet? The map below shows where we will be working this spring and summer; it covers the upper-right side, and can be accessed easily via the back entrance from Herne Mill side, or driving up the main road from the front entrance, then parking at the top left side. For the first few trips we ll meet up at plot Z. We ve decided that this year we will have a set lunch-break, so we can get together socially, and talk over any observations/problems we re encountering. Bring something with you to eat and drink, and we ll meet back at plot Z around 2pm. Pete

2 WEBSITE We are full of admiration for our techy crew, which continues to beaver away at producing a database. It s currently in its infancy, but a couple of us have been allowed to test it out, and we are most impressed. Funds We d like to say thank you to people who have donated towards our project. As you are all aware, we are all volunteers and we don t charge any membership fees, but there are costs involved which have to be met (insurance for example), and we have been able to fund such expenses as a result of some generous donations from supporters of the project. The following quote is from the HISTORIC CANTERBURY website and sums up exactly how we feel about our cemetery too. CANTERBURY CEMETERIES I cannot explain why I find the Canterbury graveyards so captivating, maybe it s the growing realization of my own mortality, or the hope that one day I ll find that elusive Terry Gravestone. The monuments fascinate me and even though they are not members of my family, I care about their lives and their history, these people are part of what made Canterbury such a great city. Some of the monumental inscriptions make me smile, some break my heart, and some make me cry, but each one holds an actual bit of history and a deep connection to Canterbury itself. Some stones are toppled and broken, some are completely overgrown with bushes or covered in moss, many have been removed, and some have sadly been defaced. This lack of care for our ancestors in the graveyards is very disappointing, there should be a society created for the future welfare of these historic places. I m certain that in the last 90 years with all of the environmental pollution that our population has produced it has affected many of the stones which are now very worn and almost unreadable. I d like to thank historians like Joseph Meadows Cowper for all his hard work in documenting the monuments of the city in the late 1800s, which helped me in sorting many of these out. I d also like to thank the people that are working on a special x-ray type of photography that one day may bring these impossible to read stones back to life. My hope is that you may find what you are looking for here, that little missing piece of your family history that makes your story more complete.

3 TAKE A SUNDAY STROLL.. The Victorians planned their cemeteries with the intention of them being regarded as a form of pleasure garden, and ours was no exception in that, the inhabitants of the parish should feel the Cemetery to be attractive and a grateful resort. A stroll round our cemetery on a Sunday afternoon was popular with local people who enjoyed the pleasant and agreeable aspect which this prettily situated burial ground wears throughout the year. Crocus, February 2017 Our cemetery is still a beautiful place to visit throughout the seasons. At the moment, the Woodland Glades are strewn with primroses and daffodils. The meadow appears to have been mown and will come into its own later in the year. A few weeks ago, patches of crocus had sprung up among the monuments, and once past their best, they were decapitated by the mower, and now the graves planted with early spring bulbs stand out like little jewels. So, our cemetery continues to be attractive, just as the planners intended over 130 years ago. Why not go for a Sunday stroll and see for yourself? The Woodland Glades, March 2017

Tales from the Cemetery Eternal Father, strong to save This is the tale of a man who was indeed strong enough to save many souls from perishing along our coast, and who really was a local hero.

4 Tales from the Cemetery Eternal Father, strong to save This is the tale of a man who was indeed strong enough to save many souls from perishing along our coast, and who really was a local hero. Frederick Gipson was a member of the Ancient Order of Foresters, the Temperance Society and was the proprietor of the bathing machines along the East cliff. In his short life he saved no less than 22 people from drowning. On Easter Monday 1897, Frederick, his 7 year old son Jesse and his brother-in-law Anthony Smith set out for an afternoon s boat trip in a small wooden dinghy. They went from the Ship Inn to Bishopstone, but it was on their return journey that tragedy struck. They were caught in a cross-current near the mussel bank and the boat capsized. The scene was witnessed by onlookers from the shore and the coastguard attempted to swim out to them, but the current was too strong and the water too cold. Young Jesse was brought from the sea, still breathing, but he died soon after being brought to shore. The bodies of the two men were recovered later when the tide went out. The only survivor was Frederick s dog who swam to shore. Five days later, Frederick and Jesse were buried at the cemetery. This was the report in the local paper.

Frederick and Jesse lie in the same grave, their stone erected by Angeline, Frederick s widow, and the inscription reads as follows IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE OF GEORGE FREDERICK GIPSON WHO WITH HIS

AND FIVE SURVIVING CHILDREN, IN MEMORY OF A LOVING HUSBAND AND FATHER, WHO DURING HIS LIFE HAD SAVED 22 PERSONS FROM DROWNING FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH HIS NAME SHALL LIVE, THOUGH HE IS NOT MORE Angeline

5 Frederick and Jesse lie in the same grave, their stone erected by Angeline, Frederick s widow, and the inscription reads as follows IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE OF GEORGE FREDERICK GIPSON WHO WITH HIS SON AND BROTHER-IN-LAW WAS DROWNED AT BISHIOPSTONE NEAR HERNE BAY APRIL 11 TH 1897 AGED 26 YEARS ALSO OF JESSE CYRIL DUDLEY FOURTH SON OF THE ABOVE AGED 7 ½ YEARS THIS STONE IS ERECTED BY THE WIDOW AND FIVE SURVIVING CHILDREN, IN MEMORY OF A LOVING HUSBAND AND FATHER, WHO DURING HIS LIFE HAD SAVED 22 PERSONS FROM DROWNING FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH HIS NAME SHALL LIVE, THOUGH HE IS NOT MORE Angeline took over the bathing machine business, an example of how the mourning etiquette really would have been the preserve of the privileged. Angeline could not afford to withdraw from society to mourn; she had mouths to feed and a roof to keep over her children s heads, and she successfully ran the business at Gipson s corner for many years. She died in 1927 and is buried in an unmarked grave near her husband and son. In 1901, Frederick and Angeline s only daughter, Mabel married Londoner Julius Conrath. The couple ran a dairy business in Station Road and then moved to the seafront where they ran a similar business and the Jersey Dairy and Tea Rooms. When Julius s mother was widowed, she moved to Herne Bay to be near her son. She died in 1919 and is buried in the cemetery. She didn t leave money to her son Julius, but instead it went to Mabel and her brother Cecil Gipson. This was because Julius was such a dreadful businessman. His bookkeeping wasn t up to much and he tried to recoup his losses by betting, but lost between 40 and 50 a year, and was bankrupt by Following in her mother s footsteps, Mabel took control of the business and kept it going by borrowing money from her brother, Cecil. She made a success of things in the very first season and was able to repay her brother, despite a small misdemeanour when she was caught out and summonsed for selling milk that was thinned down with water. You ll be pleased to know, Julius was solvent when he died in 1954! Mandy

Research interests Thank you for letting us know your interests. The list below shows names and subjects being researched for the cemetery project and also ongoing subjects that pre-date the project.

6 Research interests Thank you for letting us know your interests. The list below shows names and subjects being researched for the cemetery project and also ongoing subjects that pre-date the project. Please get in touch if you want to have something added to the list or would like to get in touch with one of the researchers with whom you d like to share information on anything listed below. Don t worry if you missed having your interests in this month s newsletter. We ll update it every month just keep us posted of anything you d like included. SURNAME WW1 names on Herne war memorial (see below) Palmer Gates Port Eastman Groom Greenhead Cursons Hogbin Dalziel Cadby Simmons Ruding Culver Mortlock Arnold Karop Weston Allaeys Hunter Wiltshier Carden Gore Scrivens Jobson Heathcote Coulson Foad White D Silva Woollard SUBJECT Clock & watchmakers Artists, Writers, Poets VAD hospitals Populating the houses Women s movements Reculver parish Names on Herne Bay War Memorial Herne Bay Shops Memorial Sculptures History of the cemetery Blean Union Workhouse Herne Bay Teachers Downs Park Residents

7 NAMES ON HERNE WW1 MEMORIAL Arnold Adair Tom Adley James Anderson Horace Andrews William Benton Horace Bounds Norman Brown Harold Browning James Bruce Cecil Bubb John Burge Bert Christian Charles Christian Walter Clark Arthur Cullen Aubrey Cullen John Cullen Frank Dale Tom Dale Giles Daubeney Alan Dinot Kenneth Dilnot Laurence Dyer Ian Edwards Mark French Arthur Frisby Harry Gammon Stanley Gates Arthur Godfrey Henry Grainger Archibald Griggs Ernest Hammond William Hearn NAMES ON HERNE WW1 MEMORIAL cont d Walter Heath Charles Hoare Oliver Holness Jesse Hopkins Ernest Hudson Francis Katinakis Percy Keen Charles Marsh Edward McManus Cecil Moat William Moat Sidney Morris James Neame Lawrence Page Jack Palmer Percy Pooley Hugh Sayer Walter Sayer William Sayer Edgar Simmons George Stone William Stone Bert Stewart Bert Taylor Frederick Taylor Harry Taylor Ernest Thundow Frederick Thundow Benjamin Vennell Thomas Waltho Harry Wells VC William Woollett Norman Wootton Pete Mandy cedewain@gmail.com Mandyboxall@aol.com

February 2017 Newsletter

February 2017 Newsletter Welcome to the February newsletter. We are counting down the days to when we hope to begin transcribing in the cemetery again. At the moment we re aiming to commence on 1 st April.